This invention pertains to a method and an apparatus for producing shirring.
Shirring has been used in the casket industry to decorate caskets and to create a pleasing casket appearance. Various methods of producing shirring have been employed. The earliest method involved threading an elastic band through spaced apertures in fabric, the elastic gathering the fabric into folds.
To provide more efficient production an improved method was developed wherein operators push a top layer of fabric into folds with their fingers while guiding the panel of fabric, underlain by backing material, to sewing needles which sew the gathered fabric to the backing material. This operator method has been used for the bulk of the shirring production to date.
As labor costs have risen the demand for automated production methods has increased. Additional drawbacks to the operator method have also become apparent. The constant attention of an operator is required. The task is unduly repetitive. Errors and imperfections are frequent, in large part due to the repetitive character of the work. In addition production rates are limited by the capacity of an operator to handle the material.
An increase in the demand for shirring has created a need for more efficient production methods. In response to this need devices which produce shirring automatically have, been attempted, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,688. As disclosed in that patent a corrugated wheel engages an adjacent corrugated wheel thereby folding a panel of fabric which is fed between the teeth of the two wheels. This crush folded fabric is then adhered to a backing material. The resulting product has the appearance of a corrugated fabric rather than that of naturally gathered shirring. Due to the inability of the industry to develop a satisfactory automatic shirring device the operator method has continued to be the primary method of producing shirring despite its repetitive character and cost inefficiencies.